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A Psychological Lens to Conceptualize Sri Lankan Farmers’ Adaptation Behavior in the Face of Significant Environmental Stressors

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Agricultural Research for Sustainable Food Systems in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Conceptualizing farmers’ adaptation behavior with a limited focus on objective factors, such as demographics, access to technology, and institutional support, may not lay a sound foundation to formulate effective policies that can guide and help farmers to adopt effective adaptation strategies in the face of adverse environmental conditions. Most importantly, a lack of insight into the conscious and unconscious psychological processes, which are the most proximal determinants of human behavior, may undermine the effectiveness of such adaptation support policy interventions. In Sri Lanka, minimal research has been done to understand the underlying psychological processes that influence the adoption of agricultural adaptation actions among Sri Lankan farmers in the face of significant environmental stressors. With the aim of encouraging more local studies to fill this research gap, this chapter attempts to provide insight into the role of psychological drivers of human adaptation behavior in the context of environmental perturbation. First, with relevance to the context of environmental adaptation support policy in Sri Lanka, this chapter discusses the significance of a psychological lens for understanding how Sri Lankan farmers sense and respond to environmental stressors. Second, with reference to well-recognized behavioral theories and empirical studies in the psychological domain, this chapter discusses some of the most salient psychological constructs for assessing human adaptation responses to environmental stressors. Third, using three research search engines, this chapter reviews the contribution of local research to reveal the role of psychological processes in the variability of farmer adaptation behaviors in Sri Lanka. Finally, this chapter provides recommendations for future research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A stressor is an “event or circumstance that taxes normal environmental transactions and relationships and initiates and motivates adaptation responses and stress and coping processes” (Reser and Swim 2011).

  2. 2.

    “Adaptation refers to a wide range of responses that an individual can make in difficult circumstances, including initial understanding, affective responses to situations, behavioral responses to situations, the process of selecting responses, and the reciprocating impact of responses to individuals, communities, and the physical environment” (Swim et al. 2009).

  3. 3.

    Uncertainty, known to be an important mediator of human responses in situations with unknown outcomes (Sjoberg et al. 2004), is a psychological construct (Windschitl and Wells 1996) that limits human cognition.

  4. 4.

    Habit is defined as frequency of past behavior in psychology (Maio et al. 2007). However, not all frequent behavior is habitual. For a frequent behavior to qualify as a habit, it should be conducted with minimal conscious awareness and intention (automaticity) (Verplanken and Wood 2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    J. M. P. N. Anuradha

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  1. J. M. P. N. Anuradha
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Peradeniya, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Ranjith Premalal De Silva

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Gamini Pushpakumara

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Pahan Prasada

  4. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

    Jeevika Weerahewa

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Anuradha, J.M.P.N. (2020). A Psychological Lens to Conceptualize Sri Lankan Farmers’ Adaptation Behavior in the Face of Significant Environmental Stressors. In: De Silva, R.P., Pushpakumara, G., Prasada, P., Weerahewa, J. (eds) Agricultural Research for Sustainable Food Systems in Sri Lanka. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3673-1_19

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